DocRob

Very nice dozer, Greg. I really like the multi colored chipping. I have a 1/35 Doobie D9r kit started, where I plan multi layer hairspray chipping. Metal base color, chipping fluid, primer, chipping fluid and finally the body color. I have no idea, if it works. Cheers Rob

A fantastic collection of more or less flying curiosities you have there, Yves. I love them all, but have to admit, the Coleoptere is a stand out. Interesting, that they were not able to calculate the lift of the annular wing correctly. It might have to do with the low speed when converting into vertical flight. Good to have computer simulation now, but your models show, there was a time in the 40´s and 50´s where everything was thought possible. I have a 1/32 Natter in stash and I am considering to build it in plywood finish, when time comes. Cheers Rob

Absolutely beautiful, good to see you back here. Cheers Rob

Somehow I missed your great build, Dan. I really like your methodical approach and the Bulldog looks fantastic. Cheers Rob

This is getting better and better Alan, Your knight looks splendid and I love the idea with the paper insignia. Color rendition and metallic sheen are excellent. On the first picture, the shield looks very shiny. I would have thought it to be matte in appearance, but this is just me. Cheers Rob

Thank you Gary, the Lotus does look good on the shelf, but it was far from an easy build. The pre-printed tires are definitely a highlight, unfortunately not copied by many companies. The added MFH details for the engine and air intakes definitely were a good invest, as the engine is so visible. Due to the fragility of the kit, I omitted further detailing with tubes and hoses. Cheers Rob

Thank you Phil and Allen, F1 cars tend to be delicate to build generally, due to lots of components in minimal space and fragile constructions. It wouldn´t have taken too much to make a premium effort with the kit for Ebbro. There are many details and clever engineering included, but poor implementations in some places, specially where the pr-chromed sprues come into play. Like you, Allan, I love the cars of this period, albeit I wasn´t following F1 racing as a youngster. I detest the later turbo monsters and after that detour, it became interesting again in the late 80`s. Cheers Rob

Thank you Ken, you are right about the cockpit no digital display, no traction control, just what you need for driving. I don´t know exactly, but I think, it was one of the first F1 cars with seat belts. Not all of the pilots liked them, because it was difficult to open them quickly after an accident with fire breaking out. When I remember correctly, Jochen Rindt, the driver of my car died soon after the Monaco race, possibly because he wasn´t wearing the seat belts correctly for the fear from fire. Cheers Rob

I got the Lotus 49c over the finish line. Final assemblies were the rear wing, the tiny metal nets over the air intakes, the steering wheel and clear parts around the cockpit and many small parts. The wing was easier mounted then thought, luckily. The rods were fragile and I can understand, why wings were banned sometimes in F1 due to the risk of flying around and hurting somebody. I hope, I did Jochen Rindt´s 1970 Monaco winner some justice. The build was not always pleasant, but I like the result despite some shortcomings. Cheers Rob

That will end as a nicely busy scene, Greg. It will look like a snapshot with a camera, great. Cheers Rob

Thank you Gary, it´s good to see the checkered flag near by with the Lotus. There will be an extensive touch up session before I call it finished. The sprayed chrome is very sensitive to the touch, luckily a chrome pen works relatively well. With the delicate construction, I omitted further wiring and piping. That will have to wait for a Tamiya Lotus 79 in 1/20 scale. Cheers Rob

Thank you Yves, but the result wouldn´t be sufficient for further macro photos. The Lotus was supposed to be a fun build, but was more of a nuisance then. I hope fot the best with the fragile rear wing construction, but could imagine some more probs on the horizon. Cheers Rob

Almost done, the Lotus and my nerves. Assembly is very difficult due to fit issues and the complexity of the car itself. There were the exhausts with a special PITA award mentioning. I had to break them from the engine, because it would have been impossible to install the four chromed rods, connecting the body with the rear suspension. I had to shave off a lot of the exhausts undersides to fiddle them in and glue them in place. Cheers Rob

A lot is going on lately, not modeling wise unfortunately, but I´m still onto the Lotus 49. Everything is prepared and painted and waiting to be assembled. The kit is a VERY mixed bag quality wise. Some engineering is fantastic and you need no glue to assemble, others areas are downright terrible, specially where the pre chromed parts come into play. I de-chromed the sprues with oven cleaner, because the detail looked soft. Unfortunately it wasn´t the chrome, the plastic got covered in a layer which looks like clear resin as a base for the chrome and this is not removable. It´s also impossible to glue the de-chromed parts with plastic glue, they call for CA. I had to drill most of the holes on the back end out, they were simply to narrow. One of the best aspects of the kit are the pre-printed tires, an approach, I wish other companies would copy. The rims were sprayed polished aluminum and semi gloss black, as the chrome looked wrong. I assembled the gearbox with the rear suspension, an area, where there is great engineering, intersecting the parts with almost no need for glue. One of the worst area of the kit were the exhausts, which were chromed, albeit they need to be painted black or white, depending the car you show. The de-chromed plastic doesn´t take paint well and need CA to glue, not easy, when you assemble the four parts per side with only seconds to fit them to the engine case, moving and wiggling the fragile parts. Cheers Rob

Ak´s Extreme Metal range works also very well, except for their black base, which like Gary mentioned never cures properly and stays tacky. Like Gary, I use Tamiya LP1 gloss black as a base for high shine finishes. Your anchor windlass would be best painted with dull matte aluminum and AK has brass and bronze in their portfolio as well. They spray as perfect as Alclads, but are a bit more durable, when it comes to masking on top. Chrome and polished aluminum is a tad shinier with Alclad, but it´s only a fraction. Cheers Rob

Thank you Alan, most the Lotus cars of the era are absolute beauties, no matter if green and yellow or red, white and gold or black and gold. Thanks for your information about the silver pencil, I will buy one. I tried AK´s silver weathering pencil, but used dry, it is too grainy. Used dampened, it would have flown too much, equal with a silver marker. Initially I used a soft pencil, which fabricated great contours, but not enough silverness. My last attempt with a brush was not too successful as you can see, with the letters barely protruding. Cheers Rob

Thank you Gary, I have two 1/12 scale Tamiya DFV´s as well, the Lotus 72 and Brabham BT44. These will be further detailed with MFH sets, like this one. Than there is one for a MFH Lotus 77, but I missed their actual release, the McLaren M23 with the same engine, which would have been a nice display together, depicting the final race of the 1976 season in the rain in Japan. Then there are numerous incarnations in 1/20 scale from Tamiya and Ebbro in my stash. I hope, I don´t get bored by replicating this engine so often. Cheers Rob

Absolutely fantastic, Greg. I love the weathering and grime. Are you planning to add figures? Cheers Rob

Finally, I got the wild hairdo of the engine straightened out. I combed and parted the fuel lines and ignition wires and glued them into place with CA. It wasn´t that terrible a task than thought, but needed a steady hand. My hand was less steady, when I tried to refine the Ford brandings with a brush and paint. I will rework it, when I have a completely unmoving hand, but today, I exhausted myself with swimming and running, not the best combo for painting these only slightly protruding buggers. The worst about macro photos, you can´t hide anything, the engine is tiny and looks better to the real eye. Cheers Rob

I have seven or eight kits with the legendary Ford / Cosworth DFV engine implemented and this is the firs time I build one. Actually the Lotus 49 was the first car in a long row using this engine, which proved to be the most victorious F1 engine of all time and for years set a kind of standard in F1 racing until it got finally replaced in 1983. I decided to give the kit engine some extra love and added a MFH set with turned funnels and fuel and ignition distributors. The engine will be very visible, so a bit extra detailing will improve the looks. I glued the yellow transparent fuel lines to the distributor with CA and then did the same with the ignition wiring, made from black 0,4 mm cable. Drilling the numerous 0,4 mm holes was delicate and gluing everything in place after shortening the tubes and wires will be equally difficult. I also assembled the gear box and sprayed it gun metal. I decided against the texturized color from Zero paints for that task, because I think in 1/20 scale the texture might be a tad too much. The valve covers were sprayed firs aluminum, followed by semi mate black, which I planned to carefully erase with a toothpick on the Ford logos. It didn´t work that way, so out with the AK Aluminum pencil, which also wasn´t successful due to the grainy application. It had to be the good old soft pencil, not perfect, but good enough for me. Cheers Rob

Nice Gary, a grubby Jägermeister Porsche, I love it. To me the grime looks realistic and what I like, is that there is shininess left, where only bits of grime accumulated and the dirtier areas are dull. The grade of shininess is a very important aspect in weathering. Cheers Rob

Next was the assembly of the front section and around the cockpit tub. While the red and white body parts fitted well, the front suspension and radiator proved to be difficult to get together. I had to widen many holes with drill bits to and did some cutting to accept the fitting parts. My expectations were a bit higher fit wise, but I was wrong, which showed when I added the front body parts and found out, that there is no way to glue them in the correct position. Here is how it looked inside the nose with suspension and radiator in place After half an hour of carefully detecting the culprits, it was clear, the radiator was too far to the front for about two millimeters and I have no idea, where I made a mistake. I then decided to cut the radiator framing and cooling hoses and glue the radiator directly into the front cone. All the struts are completely hidden in the body, so no harm done other than a wounded ego. Now the front body parts went on easily and I added the wings as last step before the engine will get build. Cheers Rob

Thank you Gary, exactly my thinking about the 49C being somewhat in the middle of development from the early 49 to the Lotus 72. It´s interesting, how long the always same engine was used in F1 racing. Until now, the fit is decent, even with the multiple body parts, where I feared problems, luckily unfounded. The chrome sprues looked a little soft detail wise and I de-chromed them with oven cleaner, only to find out, the softness was not because of the chrome. Cheers Rob

Lets hope so Yves, it is my first Ebbro kit and I hope there will not too many obstacles with the build. For now, everything looks promising. Cheers Rob

Thank you Ken, I learned through a forum post about pink primer as the best base for red colors. I used it the second time with the Lotus and really like the results. Cheers Rob